Devotions (Page 55)

Gen. 12:1-4:“And YHWH said to Abram,Get yourself up and gofrom your land, and from your kindred, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you. And I will make you into a great nation; and I will bless you; and I will make your name great.And be a blessing.And I will bless those who bless you; whereas the one who belittles you, I will curse; and in you will be blessed all kinship groups on the…

2 Corinthians 12: 1-10 (NIV)Paul’s Vision and His Thorn 1I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. 3 And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the…

Psalms 23 (NIV) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.    He makes me lie down in green pastures,He leads me beside quiet waters, He refreshes my soul.He guides me along the right paths for His name’s sake.Even though I walk through the darkest valley,I will fear no evil, for You are with me;Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely Your goodness and love will follow me all the days of…

1 Samuel 17:45 (ESV) “Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin,but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you havedefied.” I know well enough that following our Lord Jesus Christ changes my priorities. That calling myself Christian changes what I value. And as I journey with our Lord Jesus Christ over all these…

When I asked the Lord what today’s devo was about he said, “Persistence.” Not perseverance or faithfulness… persistence. Now, I am no linguist. But I can be very particular when it comes to certain things and even a little bit stubborn… okay fine, maybe a lot stubborn. In Finnish we have a word sisu that describes the grit and determination of a person. It’s not just a thing people experience though, it’s considered to be more of an intrinsic characteristic…

Jeremiah 32:38-41 38 They will be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them. 40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. 41 I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this…

1 Corinthians 13:1-31 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor…

Last week at intercession (prayer and worship, every Wednesday night) the group that was together was doing listening prayer for the church. The prayers that we shared were a great encouragement and reminder of who we are as a church family, and how every person in the church is called to follow God. Here are some of the highlights from the prayers that night: “- Life-Spring should live up to its name to be a spring of life for those…

Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. “Do not be anxious …” – note that this is a command. Not an option. And God has given us the power to say “no” to worry and anxiety. Science has confirmed…

Hebrews 12:5-6 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,nor be weary when reproved by him.6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,and chastises every son whom he receives.” As we mature in our relationship with God, it will involve discipline. And discipline oftentimes involves discomfort and pain. Allow me to encourage you that our heavenly Father sees us as His sons and daughters.…

2 Timothy 4:7: I have fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith.Hebrews 12:1: So then, with endurance, let’s also run the race that is laid out in front of us, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us. At the beginning of June I spoke about the parable of the wise and foolish builders. At the time, most of Ontario was in stage 1 of the re-opening process, which didn’t look too different…

Ruth Chou Simons has written/woven together a stunning devotional book called Gracelaced: Discovering Timeless Truths Through Seasons of the Heart. It is exactly the kind of devotional book you would expect a person like me to love… it is filled with photography from her personal life, original watercolour artwork and calligraphy. She takes her readers through the seasons of the year with pictures and lessons that line up accordingly. Towards the end of Spring she has an entry entitled, Everything.…